As of 10 August 2024, USS Abraham Lincoln and her strike group are being deployed to the Middle East as part of the U.S. response to the escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel.

[5] On 5 November 1990, as Abraham Lincoln was anchored in Valparaíso, Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez guerrillas detonated a bomb inside the restaurant Max und Moritz, in the seaside resort of Viña del Mar, wounding three of her sailors.

[7] While heading towards the Indian Ocean, the ship was diverted to support evacuation operations after Mount Pinatubo erupted on Luzon Island in the Philippines.

In support of Operation Fiery Vigil, Abraham Lincoln led a 23-ship armada that moved over 45,000 people from the Subic Bay Naval Station to the port of Cebu in the Visayas.

After Fiery Vigil, Abraham Lincoln steamed toward the Persian Gulf, to run reconnaissance and combat air patrols in Iraq and Kuwait, assisting allied and US troops involved with Desert Storm.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Pacific Fleet carrier to integrate female aviators into the crew after the Combat Exclusion Laws were lifted on 28 April 1993.

While this statement did coincide with an end to the conventional phase of the war, Bush's assertion—and a sign displayed during his visit—became controversial after guerrilla warfare in Iraq increased during the Iraqi insurgency.

[29][30] On 29 August 2006, Abraham Lincoln arrived at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, and on 8 September 2006, the carrier entered Dry Dock No.

Abraham Lincoln completed five replenishments-at-sea evolutions, including two with the fleet replenishment oiler Henry J. Kaiser, and participated in 18 general quarters (GQ) drills.

Also, on 13 August, Abraham Lincoln tested her defensive capabilities when she fired four RIM-7P NATO Sea Sparrow missiles, with two of them at BQM-74E Chukar remote-operated aerial target drones.

[33][41] Carrier Strike Group Nine's Composite Unit Training Exercise featured 24 sailors from Mobile Security Squadron 2 (MSRON-2), Helicopter Visit, Board, Search and Seizure Team 1, a first for West Coast-based U.S. Navy ships.

[43][44] Abraham Lincoln began a planned incremental availability maintenance cycle at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, on 16 April 2009.

[46][47] Beginning 1 December, Abraham Lincoln began daily flying squad, general quarters, and integrated training team drills in preparation for her first underway period following the ship's current maintenance cycle.

[49] On 9 December 2010, the US Navy officially announced that Naval Station Everett, Washington, was the new homeport for USS Nimitz, replacing Abraham Lincoln, which would be undergoing a scheduled refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News shipyard in Virginia, which is slated to begin in 2013.

From 6–10 January 2012, accompanied by guided missile cruiser Cape St. George, Abraham Lincoln visited the Gulf of Thailand port of Laem Chabang.

Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by a strike group of warships, was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to enter the Persian Gulf since late December 2011 and was on a "routine rotation" to replace the outgoing USS John C. Stennis.

[58] In June, the actors, crew and producers of the film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter attended an unconventional preview screening for the over eighteen hundred sailors aboard the namesake vessel of the 16th president.

On 7 August, Abraham Lincoln arrived at Norfolk Naval Station following an eight-month deployment to the US Navy's 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility, in preparation for the Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News.

[62] On 8 February 2013, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the scheduled mid-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul intended for Abraham Lincoln would be postponed pending the resolution of the upcoming budget sequestration.

This budget shortfall would not only affect Abraham Lincoln's refueling of her nuclear propulsion plant, but it would also delay the next scheduled mid-life complex overhaul involving George Washington forward-based in Yokosuka, Japan, as well as the de-fueling of the recently deactivated Enterprise.

On 3 October 2014, Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding said that its workers had transferred a 30-ton anchor from Enterprise, the Navy's first and oldest nuclear carrier, to be installed aboard Abraham Lincoln during that week.

[72] Also in August, a movie crew was aboard filming flight deck operations and flying sequences for the sequel Top Gun: Maverick off the coast of Virginia.

[73][74][75] On 1 April 2019, Abraham Lincoln and Carrier Strike Group 12 departed Norfolk for a six-month deployment that will end with a shifting of homeport to San Diego.

[78] While aboard, Huntsman said: "Diplomatic communication and dialogue coupled with the strong defense these ships provide demonstrate to Russia that if it truly seeks better relations with the United States, it must cease its destabilizing activities around the world.

[81] In October, it was revealed that Abraham Lincoln's Middle East deployment would be extended due to an electrical malfunction on USS Harry S Truman.

[82] Abraham Lincoln arrived in her new homeport in San Diego on 20 January following a record-breaking 295 days at sea, the longest post-Cold War era deployment for a US carrier, breaking her own record in the process.

Upon receipt of the test results, Captain Bauernschimdt told the crew of the contamination followed by, "before anybody starts freaking out, E. coli is an extremely common bacteria.

[96] On 2 August, the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to relieve USS Theodore Roosevelt operating in the Gulf of Oman, joining other US naval forces in the region as a deterrent against potential Iranian aggression against Israel.

[100] On 12 November, the Yemeni Houthi group announced the launch of two military operations described as "qualitative" in the Red and Arabian Seas that lasted eight hours, targeting an aircraft carrier and two US destroyers.

Supporters of the Houthis and many Indonesian and Singaporean news outlets made false claims about Abraham Lincoln being "damaged and returning home", and even going as far as to say it had sunk.